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Sunday, January 03, 2010

Christmas Eve

It's been a while now but I wanted to share some info and a few quick photos from our Christmas Eve. We enjoyed beautiful vistas, good chats and lots of climbing adventure for the kids at a great hiking place nearby, went to see "The Princess and the Frog" (we all loved it - old-school Disney at it's best), had our traditional Nazareth Supper (where we all dress as Mary's family having a feast of traditional middle eastern foods with her and Joseph before sending them off on their trek to Bethlehem) and topped it all off with our Nativity play.

This is Charity doing her signature jumping pose - great spot for it, huh?

The candlelight, the costumes, the really trying to imagine how Mary and Joseph and their family must have felt about all the miraculous and strange-seeming circumstances, the insightful comments offered by our kids as they play the part of holy characters from long ago - all this makes Christmas Eve sparkle as the most meaningful part of Christmas for us. It was so fun to share this with my parents who started this idea long long ago - and to remember all the great Christmas Eves of my youth when I used to get everyone dressed in dishcloth head-dresses and old bathrobes while my mom set out all the traditional foods and my dad got the discussion going about Mary and Joseph's upcoming mission.

After dinner, Mary and Joseph head to Bethlehem with their trusty donkey

And the baby Jesus was bornAngels gleefully told the shepherds the good news

Wise men came from the East bearing gifts (including a purse made of gold thanks to Grammie)And everyone adored the baby who would change the world forever